Twentynine Palms: Boy Seriously Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident

By Allen, Flatt, Ballidis & Leslie

Shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 26th, a boy was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident in Twentynine Palms. While riding a scooter near the intersection of Baseline Road and Kellogg Avenue, the 12-year-old was struck by what police describe as an older-model pickup truck, either burgundy or maroon in color, and in a four-wheel-drive or Pre-Runner-style; it also had a roll bar and off-road lights. Paramedics transported the boy to a nearby hospital, and then he was flown to Loma Linda University Medical Center. Witnesses, or anyone with information about the whereabouts of the driver, are asked to call 760-366-4175.

“After a serious accident, in the absence of the at-fault driver, the victim often incurs tremendous debt from medical bills and other expenses related to recovery,” explained California personal injury lawyer James Ballidis, “so it is always fortunate when police can apprehend the driver.”

Twentynine Palms accounted for 2 of the 39 fatalities and 3 of the 472 injuries suffered by pedestrians and none of the 5 fatalities and 1 of the 280 injuries suffered by bicyclists in San Bernardino County in 2009, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System. Hit-and-run was a factor in 172 of the fatal and 15,439 of the injury crashes that occurred in the state that year.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to wish a full recovery to the boy who was seriously injured in the hit-and-run accident.